# DKW F1 > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/DKW_F1 > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/DKW_F1.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_F1 > Source revision: 1309247040 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Motor vehicle DKW F1 Overview Manufacturer DKW (Auto Union) Also called DKW Front DKW Typ FA 600 Production 1931–1932 Assembly Germany: Zwickau Body and chassis Body style 2- or 4-seater Cabriolet various other body types built in small volumes Layout Front-engine, front-wheel-drive Powertrain Engine 584 cc 2-stroke I2 Transmission 3-speed manual Dimensions Wheelbase 2,100 mm (82.7 in) (2-seater) 2,400 mm (94.5 in) (4-seater) Length 2-seater: 3,100 mm (122.0 in) 4-seater: 3,400 mm (133.9 in) Width 1,300 mm (51.2 in) Height 1,375 mm (54.1 in) Chronology Predecessor Wanderer W24 Successor DKW F2 The **DKW F1** was a small car mass produced by [DKW](/source/DKW) (part of [the Auto Union](/source/Auto_Union)) between 1931 and 1932. It was launched at the Berlin Motor Show in February 1931.[1] The F1 was the first of a series of [front wheel drive](/source/Front_wheel_drive) cars, assembled at DKW's [Zwickau](/source/Zwickau) plant, while a line of larger, rear-wheel drive DKWs were built in the company's [Spandau (locality)](/source/Spandau_(locality)) plant, (district of [Berlin](/source/Berlin)).[2] ## Origins In October 1930 the company's Danish born chief, [Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen](/source/J%C3%B8rgen_Skafte_Rasmussen), instructed his development team at the [Zwickau](/source/Zwickau) plant to design a small, cheap people's car, that could be powered by an existing DKW motorcycle engine, and built at the plant. Rasmussen specified an innovative design, with good road-holding qualities, thus he required a chassis with the lowest possible centre of gravity, featuring front-wheel drive, and independent suspension. He gave his crew a very short timeline six weeks to draw up a design, *and* prepare three running prototypes.[1] ## Development and launch 1931 DKW F1 Roadster dashboard After just six weeks the team designed a 2 + 1 seater [roadster](/source/Roadster_(automobile)) with a curb weight of 450 kg including a full fuel tank of 25 litres, which offered improved driving dynamics and more speed. In addition to undertaking the design work, the team had prepared the three test vehicles in the time given.[1] Called the FA in this pre-series form, this was the car which appeared at the Berlin Motor Show in February 1931 with an open topped steel body, and a 494 cc two-cylinder [two-stroke engine](/source/Two-stroke_engine). By the time, later in the same year, that cars were in production for sale, the design had been altered with a stronger drive shaft mechanism, and a simpler, cheaper timber frame body, clad in imitation leather. Light weight and low cost remained the priorities. The car cost approximately 1700 [Reichsmark](/source/Reichsmark). In addition to the 494 cc engine, a slightly larger 584 cc was developed, providing 11 kW (15 PS) of advertised maximum power. In the event, none of the smaller-engined DKW F1 Type F500 was ever sold. The approximately 4,000 F1s that were sold all came powered by the larger Type 600 engine. Nevertheless, sales brochures dating from the summer of 1932 still included both engine sizes, which enabled the manufacturer to advertise an "eye catchingly low" starting price for the car.[3] ## Body types As was normal at this time even for very small cars, a range of body types was available. In addition to the roadster, open topped sedan/saloon and saloon bodied cars, buyers could also specify various sports style bodies including a single seater featuring a then fashionable “boat-deck” style rear end. At an enthusiasts’ meeting at the [Nürburgring](/source/N%C3%BCrburgring) in the 1970s it was reported that a single seater sports bodied DKW F1 recorded a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph). - 1931 DKW F1 sedan - 1931 DKW F1 Roadster - DKW F1 single seater at Nürburgring ## Manufacturing logistics The F1, like subsequent front wheel drive DKWs until 1942, was assembled at the company's [Zwickau](/source/Zwickau) plant which Rasmussen had acquired for the business in 1928[4] or 1929 by becoming a majority shareholder in [Audi-Werke AG](/source/Audi#Birth_of_the_company_and_its_name). The F1's body was assembled at the [Spandau](/source/Spandau_(locality)) factory which had been acquired by Rasmussen in 1924 with the purchase of SB-Automobil-GmbH. The timber bodies were then transported the approximately 300 kilometers (190 miles) to [Zwickau](/source/Zwickau) by train.[2] The [Zschopau](/source/Zschopau) plant was close to Zwickau and had originated in 1906 as an armaments factory established by Berthold Ruppe. Its inclusion in what would become the [Auto Union](/source/Auto_Union) dated from Rasmussen's work with Ruppe's son, Hugo, in establishing at the plant the "Zschopauer Motorenwerke J. S. Rasmussen AG". By 1931 this plant had become home to the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world, and it was Zschopau that produced the two stroke engines for the DKW F1 and its successors.[2] ## Commercial Approximately 4,000 DKW F1s were sold between 1931 and 1932 which would have equated to a market share of approximately 8% in a depressed passenger car market. However, the DKW F1's larger significance arose both because it pioneered volume production for front-wheel drive cars and because it was the first in a line of inexpensive light weight DKWs, from the F1 to the F8, which secured DKW's position as the country's most successful manufacturer of small cars in the 1930s and second place in the country's sales charts (beaten to the top position only by [Opel](/source/Opel)) every year between 1933 and 1938.[5] ## Sources and further reading 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Osw1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Osw1_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Osw1_1-2) [Oswald, Werner: Deutsche Autos 1920-1945, volume 2](#Oswald), Quote (p. 94): *"Innerhalb von 6 Wochen sollten nicht nur die Konstruktion, sondern auch bereits drei Versuchswagen fertig sein! Diese Zeitlimit wurde erstaunlich auf den Tag genau eingehalten....und wäre unter heutigen Verhältnissen völlig unvorstellbar."* (Eng:"Within 6 weeks, not only a construction design, but also three running prototypes were to be built. Astonishingly, this time-limit was achieved to the day....a feat unimaginable by today's [2001] standards") 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-autogenerated1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-autogenerated1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-autogenerated1_2-2) [Oswald](#Oswald), p. 85 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Oswald](#Oswald), pp. 94, 96 1. **[^](#cite_ref-chronicle4_4-0)** [Audi chronicle 1930–1944](https://web.archive.org/web/20090204030104/http://www.audi.com/audi/com/en2/about_audi_ag/history/chronicle/chronicle_1930_1944.html). audi.com 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Oswald](#Oswald), pp. 530-531 - Audi (publisher): *Das Rad der Zeit.* 2000. - Oswald, Werner (2001). *Deutsche Autos 1920-1945, Band (vol) 2* (in German). Motorbuch Verlag. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-613-02170-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-613-02170-6). - Rauch, Siegfried: *DKW – Die Geschichte einer Weltmarke.* Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1988. - Staatsarchiv Chemnitz (publisher): *In Fahrt Autos aus Sachsen.* Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle, Germany, 2005. - Various authors: *Von 0 auf 100. Hundert Jahre Autoland Sachsen.* Chemnitzer Verlag, 2001/2003. This entry is based on information from the German Wikipedia [DKW F1 article](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_F1). --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [DKW F1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_F1) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_F1?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.